The Silver Creek Woods Preserve in Rockford is home to luminous fungi, wildflowers and — allegedly — the elusive star-nosed mole. But it’s normally not open to the public. This weekend, the Natural Land Institute is opening the preserve for what it calls a bioblitz.
A bioblitz is a citizen science event where community members and experts will work together to identify and record as many different species as possible.
Local scientists and nature photographers will lead hikes throughout the weekend, teaching the community how to conduct citizen science.
Lisa Normoyle is on the board of trustees for the Natural Land Institute. She said there will be something for the whole family.
"We have worked really hard on it," she said. "I don't think that anyone will be disappointed, because it’s such an amazing piece of property, and we have this plethora of cool activities planned."
The 120-acre property features woodlands, prairie ecosystems and a creek.
On Friday night, attendees will look for bats, listen for owls, and study moths. There will also be a telescope from the Discovery Center, weather permitting.
On Saturday morning, visitors will also be looking for the star-nosed mole. It was sighted in the area years ago, but it has not been officially recorded in the state of Illinois.
Normoyle said getting being outside is the first step to protecting Illinois’ natural lands.
"It's really important that people connect to nature,” she said. “Everybody's so busy on their phones all the time, and at their computer screen. If people don't understand how important these areas are, then we're going to lose them in the future. That would just be a tragedy."
The bioblitz is free to attend, but NLI asks people to register in advance.
